April 15, 2017

My students love completing the Top Ten topic
of the week. They can’t wait to see what
the next topic is for the week. I let
them choose their own topics every now and then. Top Ten can be used across the
curriculum. There really is no limit to
what you can use it for.

How we use Top Ten in the class

A new topic is introduced each week.I like to pick topics that we are currently
studying or may have previously studied.I do have a collage of pictures and words to help with those writers who
have a hard time coming up with ideas.

My students must show me the list first
before moving on to the other activities.
I may correct some of the spelling if a student cannot read the word. I don’t want to
take the pleasure away from the writing by correcting spelling errors. Approximations are welcomed and celebrated!

They are allowed to complete the remaining
activities in any order they wish. They
have to put the list in alphabetical order, illustrate each word, and write a
sentence using the word.

I may keep a set of activities for each
student and put it in their Writing Binder to show at conferences.I allow some students to work together to complete their lists.

We have create Top
Ten list on the following topics:

·Things that are green, yellow, pink

·Weather words

·Things you see in Spring, Fall, Winter,
Summer

·Insects

·Animals

·Things we love

·Places to take a vacation

·Landforms

·Favorite movies or TV shows

·Favorite songs

·Healthy foods

·Christmas words

Things that produce light

Students who are hesitant to write enjoy
completing the Top Ten activity. I work
with students who have a hard time completing the sentences or coming up with
ideas. We take it a step further and
work with one sentence each day. They
write the sentence, read it to a friend, then put the sentence in order.

I also have some students work with word cards to help with putting the words in alphabetical order.

Two words, same letter? What to do?

Checking out the alphabet chart

Success!

ideas are endless with what you can do
with this activity. Have you used Top
Ten in your classroom? Let me know how
your students enjoy it!!

April 8, 2017

I attended one of the best teacher conferences
ever! The Get Your Teach On conference
in Orlando, Florida was motivating, encouraging, and filled with ideas on how to
set the stage to engage my students!!

First I have to give a big shout out to my class that helped
me win the registration to the conference by submitting a video about why I
should receive a scholarship to the conference.

We all know that everything can’t be a bucket of fun
when it comes to the content that we have to teach, however, there are little
things we can change that will bring excitement to each lesson. You may not want to undertake a large room
transformation but you are willing to bring in extra props to help engage the
students. Any of that EXTRA is
definitely going to help the kids remember the content just because you have
created a happy or funny memory.

9There is a difference between a

worksheet
and a recording sheet.

I really enjoyed
Deanna Jump discussing the differences between the two. A recording sheet is meant to log the
students’ ideas and conclusions. A
worksheet is truly meant to fill time.
There is a time for both so don’t beat yourself up! It depends on what you want your students to
do.

8Do you!

If you want to change your room to look like an excavation
site because you think it would tie in with a lesson you’re teaching on
fossils, then do it! Don’t let other
teachers try to dissuade you because it’s something they wouldn’t do. That’s okay.
Everyone has their own style of teaching and you should not feel bad
either way.

7Laugh at your mistakes

I hate to say it but I’m a horrible speller! Sometimes I will get caught up in creating a
word bank on the dry erase board and forget to check my spelling. There are times when I have lined my students
up to go to specials and we walk to specials and then I remember there are no
specials that day, so I just tell the kids we went for a leisurely stroll. I flash a big smile and keep it moving. I truly believe that my students like the
fact that I laugh at things so much. Or
maybe they just think I’m crazy.

6Become an expert in your
field

I don’t think you have to go back to college and get a
higher degree to do this. I believe
conferences and good professional development will help with this. You can also read books by authors who have
completed the research or have used a certain strategy in their own
classrooms. I think we need to be
constantly learning and improving. You
will never know it all! However, try to
stay abreast of trends and techniques that are changing in education. Keep
learning what works!

5Connect everything

We have a lot of standards! On the
positive side, it’s a great way to integrate the subject areas. That’s
one thing that I like when I see teachers use room transformations and the activities
assess about 15 different standards from various subjects. That’s some major learning going on. Connecting the learning is not only efficient
but it just makes sense. We always want
to get more bang for our buck!

4 Know the why

There are days or maybe weeks when you
think to yourself, “What else can I do with this degree?” Go back to that moment when you wanted to
save the world by educating children. Remember
the reason why you wanted to become an educator. We know it wasn’t for the fame or
fortune. Find that passion again!

3Approximations are
accepted and celebrated

Deanna gave an
example of how a parent responded when her child’s writing was not fully
corrected. I’ve had this happen to me as
well. I know from experience that my
students will shut down and their writing will come to a halt if they get held
up on spelling a word. Let them get
absorbed in the story!

2Don’t hide behind I
can’t

This is another big one because I know I have
complained about too many standards that are taught too soon to kids that are
too young. I have not met a teacher yet
who just loves scripted curriculum or curriculum where one size fits all. I
always tell my students to solve the problem!
What can we change? How can I
take this boxed program and make it more engaging for my students? It can be done! Your superpower is your creativity!!

1Choose joy

I know this almost sounds cliché, but it’s so
true. Wake up every morning and make the
decision that you will choose joy. Put a
smile on your face going into the day knowing you have bus duty, no planning,
and three parent teacher conferences when you know only one will show up. Count it all joy.

I learned so much at the conference. It was also the motivation that was needed and right
on time. I want to go back and attend
the 2-3 sessions. I didn’t know I was
being moved to second at the time of the conference so I attended the K-1
session. I’m almost sure that the 2-3
sessions will be just as wonderful as the K-1 sessions.

If you get the opportunity to go, check it out.

What conference or PD have you attended that motivated
and renewed your passion for teaching?